What is the Key to Happiness?

What is the Key to Happiness?

By Cassandra George Sturges

I think that happiness is the most misunderstood concept among humans. We develop a childlike understanding of happiness from society and our family at an early age.  We are conditioned to believe that happiness is a temporary, fleeting emotion controlled by external sources for a short period of time.

We are indirectly taught that happiness is receiving birthday and Christmas gifts, winning games, receiving favors from others, and being accepted into institutions, relationships. We learn to define happiness as an activity, and not a state of being.

Do you know whether you are happy at this very moment? I don’t think that true happiness can be assessed in real-time. I think that real happiness can only be recognized in hindsight.

 

The best way for me to describe this is --- let’s say that a woman wants to get pregnant. She thinks that being pregnant will make her happy. When she first takes a pregnancy test that is positive—she feels happy.

Now let’s say she has a difficult pregnancy. And once the baby is born the baby has several medical conditions. And like all new mothers --this new mom is exhausted from lack of sleep. Is she happy?

What about the student accepted into medical school --Late night study sessions—no sleep—student loan debt, etc… Are they ever “happier about medical school” than the exact moment they were initially accepted into medical school? Or did their state of happiness fade as the bittersweet reality of their dreams unfolded.

I don’t think humans know when they are happy because true happiness is the sum total of a life lived unapologetically. A life lived with sorrow, pain, joy, laughter, and tears are the elixir of happiness. Some of the most painful events I have ever gone through in my life—when I look back on those years they make me laugh.

I guess the key to happiness is knowing that you are happy--even when you are sad, even after a break-up, even when you didn't get the job, or the promotion. Because one day you'll look back and see that your short stay on earth was a fleeting, magical, moment in time

Anyway, I recently had a medical emergency that made me think that I was going to die. While my blood was being drawn, I told myself that I would only think about things that made me happy.  So I started sewing in my imagination.

Here are some pictures of the doll accessories that I created in my imagination to keep me happy.